NASHVILLE, Tenn. –Despite doing many of the little things right including a season low 12 turnovers the shots just would not fall for Lipscomb women’s basketball team, who battled hard against Atlantic Sun foe USC Upstate dropping a 50 to 44 decision on “Senior Night” at Allen Arena in Nashville.

“It was a funny game,” said Lipscomb head coach Frank Bennett. “We did about everything we needed to do except for putting the ball in the basket. We limited their transitions, played good team defense and would have held them in the 40’s if we hadn’t fouled late in the game.

“We played under control and got pretty good shots. We just had a hard time making the field goals and free throws.”

Lipscomb sophomore wing O’Neisha Smith was the exception for the Lady Bison on the night as she went 4-for-10 from the floor and added 10 rebounds and a pair of free throws to claim the first double-double of the season for the “Purple and Gold.”

“O’Neisha played really hard on the boards,” said Bennett. “She’s had some good rebounding games and she’s done a nice job of slashing to the basket and made some free throws. She played hard tonight and had a really solid game.”

The contest remained close throughout the contest but Lipscomb missed five of the last six free throws down the stretch to seal the win for Upstate.

“(Making your free throws) is a big thing,” said Bennett. “It gives you a chance to set your press and you get a chance to put them away two points at a time and we just missed that opportunity. Maybe you get to a point where you don’t have to foul late in the game. So that was difficult.”

The Lady Bison were led by junior guard Morgan Faulkner, who finished the night with 11 points.

Tee’Ara Copney, who entered the night as the No. 3 scorer in the league, finished with a game-high 16 points to lead the Spartans. Lauren McRoberts added 15 points and 15 rebounds for the visitors.

Despite getting a combined four points from leading scorers Anna Bowers and Hannah Phillips, the Lady Bison hung in the game all night never trailing by more than 10 points. Coming into the night, Phillips and Bowers as a duo had both scored in 55 consecutive contests for the Lady Bison. That streak was ended on Saturday night as the Spartans held Bowers without a basket.

Following the game, the Lady Bison honored Bowers and fellow seniors, Brittany Duerk and Leah McAlister with a ceremony at center court.

The Lady Bison hit the road on Thursday for a 4 p.m. A-Sun tilt at Mercer.